Frederick j



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK J. LEE, OF OSWEGO, KANSAS.

.'LATCH.

SPECIEICAION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,693, dated July 4, 1882.

' Application med April is, Issa. (No moan.)

.To alll whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FREDERICK J. LEE, of Oswego, in the county of Labette and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification, and in which- Figures 1 and 2 are perspectives of mylatch applied to a door,taken from reverse sides thereof 5 and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through a part of a door and its frame with my lock applied. Fig. 4 is a perspective view, showing the guides or posts and the spring.

rlhis invention relates to improvements on latches which are designed for various kinds of doors, and which are especially applicable to stormror screen doors; and the nature of my invention consists in a certain novel combinationof devices, as will be understood from the following description, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings.

A designates a doorfi'rame, to which a door, B, is hinged in any well-known manner; and C designates a beveled vertical strip against which the door abn-ts when shut, on which strip a wearing-plate, a, is secured, over which a beveled-nosed curved latch, D, is adapted to catch, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

E designates a bearing-plate upon the door, which is constructed with a thumb-piece, b, and with an oblong slot, c, through it. This plate E is secured to the door opposite a mortise, d, made through the door. The curved latch D passes freely through the slot, and also passes freely through an oblong slotmade through a plate, F, secured to the opposite side of the door, as shown in Fig. 2. The outer end of the latch D has a thumb-piece, e, formed on it, which, with the aid of the thumbpiece b, allows this latch to be operated conveniently from one side of the door. The latch D is constructed with a fulcrum notch, f, which hears against the door-plate E at vone end of the slot c, and prevents the latch from being drawn out of its place. The inner end of the latch is constructed with abeveled nose or catch, g, adapted to 'engage with the wearing-plate a. From this catch there projects a curved handle, g', by which the latch can be easily disengaged from the plate a from the inside of the door. v

G designates a helical spring, which is ap- .this plate to the door.

plied in the mortise d through the door and attached to the inside plate, F, by means of two guides, h h, which are fixed permanently to this plate, on opposite sides of the slot through it. One end of the spring G abuts against two posts, t' i, fixed to plate F, and thev other end of this spring bears against the latch D, so as to press the catch g of this latch forward and cause it to engage with the plate a when the door is shut. The free ends of the guides 7i h have knobs or shoulders on them, which keep the spring G on the guides when the device is not secured to a door, and the latch-shank passes freelybetween said guides, so as to act centrally against the end of the spring.

J designates a locking arm or key, which is pivoted on a burr or short collar, j, formed on the plate F, and is held in place on this .burr

or collar by one of the screws k, which secure Near one end of the locking arm or key J is a stop, J', formed at right angles to the shank of the key, which stop is arranged in such relation to the shank of the latch D on the inside of the door that by adjusting the stop behind the latch the door will be locked fast, and by adjusting the stopin front of the latch, when thecatching portion gis drawn back to its fullest extent, the latter will not engage with the plate a when the door is shut.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 3 that I cut notches in the shank of the latch at n. These notchesv will prevent the key J from slipping toward the catch gwhile holding the latch out of action. The key is thus prevented from strain at its pivotal attachmentto the plate F.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The colnbination of the slotted door-plate E, formed with a thumb-piece or handle, the slotted inside plate, F, the guides It h and posts 'i t' on this plate, the spring G, applied on these guides, 'and the latch D, constructed with a handle on one end, a fulcruuI-notch, a catch, g, and a handle, g', all substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aftix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: FREDERICK J. LEE.

E.D. KINsEY, J. A. GATES.

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